Visions on Malachor
by TC Morgan
Summary: Ahsoka has finally found out the identity of Darth Vader and the fate of her former master. Now forlorn and marooned on the Planet of the Sith, she will go on a journey lead by visions of things she's never seen and glimpses into a time and place that she's never known. Can she unlock the secret of the Sith and save her rebel friends? Please rate and review
1. Chapter 1

Ahsoka sat wounded and kneeling in the dark cave on Malachor. Her injuries were not life threatening but she was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted. _Anakin_ , she thought ruefully, _my Master, what has become of you?_ Her body ached but not as much as her battered soul and tormented mind. She could feel her former Master, now Darth, as he limped across the planet's charred ground and her heart sank. Ahsoka knew that he could feel her too but he did nothing, choosing not to pursue her but also not to help her. She leaned back against the cave's dry and charred wall. There was no one or thing on this depraved and desolate planet that could hurt her so she didn't have to worry about keeping her guard up. The biggest enemies she'd have to face now would be dehydration before malnutrition but she was willing to face them both if putting up a fight against them meant calling her friends back to danger. Ezra. Rex. Herra. Kanan. She was never going to see them again. It wasn't as though she was second guessing her decision to stay with her former Master during the fall of the Sith Temple but she was beginning to lose all hope. Again.

Ahsoka closed her eyes as she tried to meditate. _Why Master Yoda_ , she spoke in her mind, _why did you send us here for this?_ She waited patiently for the old Jedi Master to respond but there was nothing. She was truly alone. A desert owl flew into the cave and perched on a small out cropping just biggest enough for its sharp talons to take hold and it stared at Ahsoka curiously as it hooted softly. She ignored it as fatigue began to overtake her, losing the will to fight to stay alert and awake any longer. "Master," she whispered out loud to no one as her heart broke at what she knew Anakin had become. She was sure that he wasn't going to come looking to finish her off but the thought of him still pained her deeply. _Meditation_ , she thought once again to herself, _try to meditate_. But try as she might, she could not concentrate. Instead, the constant rhythmic hooting of the owl began to in-trance her and she drifted off into a fitful but deep sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wakey, wakey, Snips." Ahsoka's eyes snapped opened as she looked around frantically. She was strapped down to a chair but not in a way that she couldn't release herself if she had wanted to. "Whoa, calm down," said the familiar voice from beside her as her hands reached for the twin hilts of her lightsabers at her hips. "See this is why I don't like you going to sleep while we're in hyper-space. You wake up jumpy and unfocused." Ahsoka's mind was racing and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest as she turned and saw who was talking to her.

"A-Anakin?" she said breathlessly as fear, confusion and utter joy flowed through her all at once. With his hands still at the controls, Anakin turned to looked at her with amused confusion of his own.

"Snips," he said as Corusant came into view, " are you feeling alright?" Ahsoka stared into his ocean blue eyes and she used her keen vision to trace every inch of his face. It was still marred by the scar on the right side by his eye but the vicious burns were no longer there. "Hello," he said, waving his hand in front of her face, "Skywalker to Snips, you in there?"

"No," she said softly, "no, this is all wrong. We were just on Malachor, we were battling," she stammered as she pointed at him, "Darth, Darth..." Her memory of what felt like a far away vision seemed to be fading before her eyes like a fog being hurried away by a gentle but insistent breeze and try as she might, she couldn't grasp it.

"Malachor," Anakin gasped in shock, "the Sith Planet of legend? Ahsoka, we were just on Mandolor with Rex, remember? I gave you your lightsabers back so that you could take on Darth Maul but he got away. You wanted to go after him but I had a more important job for you."

"I-I don't remember that," Ahsoka said as she gripped her head with both hands, "I don't remember any of that. After Darth Maul got away, everything is kind of a blank."

The Jedi Knight sighed. "Ahsoka, if you're having visions about Malachor, then we can meditate about it later but for now I need you to focus. We're on a mission."

"A mission," Ahsoka said quizzically, still in a daze, " but I'm not a Jedi."

Anakin's hands clenched at the navigational controls. "You don't have to keep reminding me," he replied, his voice sounding uncharacteristically guarded and tight. "But I know you miss being one and that's why I knew you wouldn't turn me down when I came and asked for your help. You can't resist helping people, its in your blood, its a part of you."

"You... asked me to help you...on a mission," Ahsoka said skeptically.

Anakin frowned slightly as he pulled the ship that he was piloting into the senate docking port. "Ahsoka," he said quietly, his voice sounding conspiratorially serious, "I need you at a hundred percent for this, I mean it. You're the only person in the galaxy that I can trust to help me with this but you can't start going all loopy on me. Obi Wan doesn't even know about what's going."

" And Senator Amadala?"

Anakin shook his head and Ahsoka's eyes widened in surprise. He told the Naboo senator everything so the fact that he hadn't told her about the secret mission he was now undertaking was more than strange. Ahsoka had suspected for years that the two were closer than most should be but she had only been a padawan learner at the time and didn't feel as though it was her place to pry. Anakin docked the ship and then turned to Ahsoka. "Snips," he said, his eyes boring into her, "I need you this one last time. Can I count on you?"

Ahsoka pushed what must have been a horrible dream out of her head as she nodded resolutely. "Yes Master," she replied, her eyes unwavering, "you can count on me, I will not let you down." Shutting the ship off, Anakin quickly exited it followed closely behind by Ahsoka. "What's the mission," she ask as she kept in step with her former master.

"I have discover the identity of the Sith Lord," Anakin said as he removed his light saber from his belt.

"Who?"

"Senator Palpatine. He's been using his power in the senate to hide his true nature and protect him from detection but not anymore. Master Windu and a few other Masters have already left ahead of us to bring him in but he is powerful and I don't trust that he wont over take them."

"But...they are Jedi Masters, surely they can take on one Sith."

"A Sith yes, but perhaps not a Sith Lord. I don't want to take any chances."

Ahsoka patted the sabers at her waist, the hilts of which, she knew so well. "I will not fail you Master," she said with determination, " we will fight the Sith Lord together and we will win."

"You can't fight him Snips," Anakin said as he activated the elevator that would take them up to Senator Palpatine's personal floor. "He's too powerful and I don't want you getting hurt."

"But Master, I can..,"

"No," he said with finality and Ahsoka frowned at him.

"Then why am I here," she replied quickly, unable to keep the annoyance that she felt at being curtailed out of her voice.

"Because I may need you to cover _me_ while _I_ fight him. I don't trust anyone with my back but you and Obi Wan."

"Then why not enlist the assistance of your former Master to help you instead of me? After all, he is a real Jedi, not some ex-padawan who just tries every now and again."

Once they exited the elevator, Anakin took hold of Ahsoka by the shoulders and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Ahsoka, look at me. You are now and you will always be a Jedi. It is who you are but I'm hoping that once this is all over, you will come back to the order and be my Padawan again.

"Master, I'm, I'm too old," Ahsoka stammered and Anakin smiled.

"You are never too old to learn, now," he said as he activated his gleaming blue light saber, "the Senator and the fate of the Republic is right behind that door. Are you ready?" Ahsoka activated her dual green light sabers and got into a fighting stance.

"I am ready Master."


	3. Chapter 3

Anakin activated the door to the chancellor's private rooms but just as he and Ahsoka rushed in, they caught sight of Jedi Master Mace Windu dueling with Lord Sidious. Even though they both had their lightsabers drawn, Anakin pointed to what Ahsoka had not seen. "Tend to the wounded Jedi Masters," he said with urgency as he headed toward the mealy, "I'll help Master Windu."

Ahsoka deactivated her lightsabers and walked quickly to where the Jedi Masters lay not far from the door but checking them for vital signs, her heart clinched when she found they had none. Shock over rode her features as grief set in. How could one Sith, one old man, have killed three Jedi Masters and be holding his own against Master Windu? There's always two, she thought and then, reigniting her twin lightsabers, she stood up, her eyes darting around as they searched the room for a hidden person that had not yet showed itself. Suddenly, a hooded figure appeared and Skywalker gestured to Ahsoka to stay back as he ran over to engage him in combat. To her surprise, the hooded figure was equipped with a lightsaber as well that shun just as brightly blue as her former Master's. Anakin quickly engaged him to keep the hooded figure away from Mace as the older Jedi continued fighting the Sith Lord. They dueled feverishly with Anakin never being able to land a blow and the man in the hood, never being able to advance. Ahsoka wanted to help her master in the fight but for some reason, she just couldn't bring herself to move. The bodies of dead Jedi Masters littered the floor around her and she felt frozen in place. Turning she looked over at Sidious who had been subdued and was now on the floor. It seemed as though his face was melting as he tried to send what looked like bolts of electricity into Mace Windu but the Jedi Master was stronger and used his purple lightsaber to ward off the evil old man's fearsome attacks. Then, as if drained and defeated, the corrupted chancellor began to beg feebly for his life as Mace Windu pronounced the judgment of death upon him. Ahsoka saw that this caught Anakin momentarily off guard and as he was about to call to the older Jedi Master, the hooded figure got away from him and moving quickly, it sliced off Mace Windu's hand from the wrist up. The Jedi Master screamed in agony and both Anakin and Ahsoka rushed to his aid. It seemed like such a short distance away but before they could reach him, the once weak Sith Lord came to life with a vengeance and shot bolts of angry lightening into the Jedi Master, using it as an extension of himself to hurl Mace out of the shattered window.

Ahsoka screamed in shock and Anakin roared in anger. They lunged as one at the hooded figure but reaching out a hand, it threw them both through the open door of the chancellor's private quarters, slamming them hard against the wall of the hallway. The door shut immediately and no matter what Ahsoka did, she couldn't get it to open back up. She pounded the controls and beat the ungiving metal with her bare fists but it would not relent. Finally, she re-activated her twin lightsabers that had shut off when both she and her former master had been unceremoniously hurled out of the room. She was about to press them into the door to burn it open when Anakin called out to her. Turning around quickly, she saw her former master hunched over and holding his side.

"No Ahsoka," he said, his voice sounding fatigued but sturdy, "we have to go."

"But the Sith," she said insistently as she pointed to the door, "they just murdered Master Windu and a third of the Jedi Council. We have to stop them!"

"And we will but what we have to do now is more important. They didn't want to kill a few Master Jedi and be done with it, they want to annihilate the entire order. We have to get back to the temple and warn everyone before its too late." Ahsoka nodded and pulled out her com link but Anakin put out a hand to stop her. "No, they might be blocking our comms by now or worse, monitoring them. We can't let them know where we're going. Let's go."

Ahsoka' heart hurt at what she had just seem. She couldn't get the sound of Mace Windu anguished cries out of her mind nor the images of the dead Masters strewn all over the chancellor's office like discarded trash but she soldiered forward, not looking back as she moved quickly to keep up with Anakin. Sooner than she would have expected, they were in the hanger bay and boarding their vessel, they were off.

"The Sith," Ahsoka said, her voice sounding numb and far away, "how were they able to over take you? How were they able to defeat Master Windu?"

"I wasn't strong enough," Anakin said ruefully, "I never was." Ahsoka heard a hurt in Anakin's voice that rocketed through her and sat like a stone in her stomach. "But there's still time, I can still make things right. We can warn everyone and at least they can be ready."

"We will fight together Master," Ahsoka said hopefully, "and we will win."

"We must win," Anakin said as the Jedi Temple spires came into view, "or the entire galaxy will fall with us."


	4. Chapter 4

Anakin landed their ship on one of the many docking pads of the Jedi Temple. Both he and Ahsoka jumped out of the cock pit and took to the ground running at full speed. He got to the temple before her and called out as he threw it's doors open wide. "Masters," he yelled but then he paled in a way that Ahsoka had never seen before. He was taller than she was and the frame of his body kept her from seeing past him to what had caused her former to freeze up in terror.

"Master," she said, her voice a mixture of anxious fear, "what, what is it."

"Don't look," he said numbly in only a whisper and she couldn't tell if he had been talking to her or himself. "Don't look."

Ahsoka, tired of not being able to see past her former master to what had caused him to behave so strangely, sidestepped Anakin and was immediately sorry that she did. The floor of the Jedi Temple hall was covered with the bodies of Jedi Knights, their Padawans, and Temple Guards. "Who could have done this?"

Anakin said nothing but stood there, lightsaber in hand and eyes clinched shut. "Don't look," he whispered again. Ahsoka was about to say something else but the horrified screams of younglings caught both of their attentions, pulling Anakin out of his grief stricken haze. As one, they activated their lightsabers and ran at full speed to the children's quarters but Ahsoka wasn't prepared for what she saw there. Her voice and every ounce of air left in her lungs left her as she heard Anakin let out an anguish howl of pain in utter grief at what they both beheld in front of them. The little bodies of younglings were scattered about like useless things among the very guardians and toys that had made them feel safe. Ahsoka fell to her knees in disbelief. She didn't need to check any of the younglings for their vitals, it was very obvious that they were now all one with the force. All but one. The female Tholothian named Katooni and who was no more than fifteen years of age lay there, her lightsaber just out of reach, and choking on her own blood. Anakin ran over to her quickly and kneeling beside her, he raised her head and placed it gently on his lap.

"Master Skywalker," she gasped raggedly, "you were supposed to protect us, you, you were supposed to train us to..."

"I know," Anakin said desperately and he tried to keep his tears from falling, "I know and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Why Master," she croaked brokenly, tears of her own falling freely, "why?"

Ahsoka watched as the youngling that she had personally escorted to Ilum and who she had watched grow when she once followed the path of the Jedi, die in her former Master's arms.

"Why would anyone want to kill younglings and in their own nursery? Who would want to do something so evil?"

"Isn't it obvious," Anakin said and moving his hand over the face of the young girl who lay dead in his arms, he closed her eyes one final time before he stood. "The clean cuts, the swift strikes, the calculated movements..."

"A Sith," Ahsoka said as she went to reach for the body of a youngling no older than a toddler but Anakin stopped her.

"No Sith could have navigated the Jedi Temple so quickly and efficiently. It was a Jedi."

"What?! How could you even say that?!"

"This Jedi has turned against the order or perhaps worse, a Jedi faction may have turned against the Republic. Which is true, I don't know but I do know that someone decided to get rid of every Jedi in the temple, not even sparing the younglings."

"A Jedi would never kill children Anakin," Ahsoka said vehemently as she stood, "you must be wrong."

"Oh really," he said ruefully, no longer able to look at the little lifeless bodies anymore, "you see how the younglings were cut down. One swift blow each, in an area that would hurt them the least but kill them the quickest. Whoever did this wanted them dead but didn't want them to suffer and the Sith aren't known for kindness towards their victims. No, this was someone that they knew and knew them and wanted to spare them too much pain."

"What Jedi would want to do this?" Anakin said nothing but walked swiftly past Ahsoka and she followed quickly behind him. "Anakin, Anakin, listen to me, where are we going?"

"To warn Padme," he said as he began to run and Ahsoka had to double her efforts to keep up with him.

"Why would we need to warn the senator? She's not a Jedi so she's not in any danger."

"She's a Jedi sympathizer and that puts her directly in danger. We have to warn her and then we have to find the Jedi that did this."

"We need to go back for Palpatine, he is the Sith Lord. We need to capture him"

"He's just the half of it but not muscle. The head is useless without a body to control and I'm going to the Jedi that became his body and personally make sure I feel it when he becomes one with the force."


End file.
